Method for manufacturing a nanostructure in-situ, and in-situ manufactured nanostructure devices

ABSTRACT

A method is for manufacturing a nanostructure in-situ, at least one predetermined point on a supporting carrier. The method includes choosing a suitable material for a substrate in the carrier, creating the substrate, and preparing a template on the substrate so that the template covers the predetermined point. The template is given a proper shape according to the desired final shape of the nanostructure, and a film of nanosource material with desired dimensions is formed on the template. The film of nanosource material is made to restructure from a part of the template, thus forming the desired nanostructure. Suitably, the template includes a first and a second area which have different properties with respect to the nanosource material.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a method for manufacturing ananostructure in-situ at a predetermined point on a supporting carrier,and also to such a nanostructure device. In addition, the inventionrelates to electronics devices comprising a nanostructure made accordingto the method of the invention.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Nanostructures, for example in the shape of tubes, so called nanotubes,are structures which offer a number of new and interestingfunctionalities in, for example, the field of electronics. At present,however, there are difficulties associated with the manufacturing ofnanostructures. Nanotubes, for example, are at present produced by meansof a variety of procedures, which all have the common drawback that thenanotubes produced in these ways need a significant amount ofpostprocessing, and also need additional manipulation in order to beincorporated into devices.

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION

The purpose of the invention is thus to solve the mentioned drawbacks ofcontemporary nanostructure technology, with a nonexclusive emphasis onnanotubes.

This purpose is achieved by a method for manufacturing a nanostructurein-situ at at least one predetermined point on a supporting carrier,which method comprises the steps of choosing a suitable material for asubstrate to be comprised in the carrier, creating said substrate, andpreparing a template on the substrate, wherein the template covers saidpredetermined point. The template is given a proper shape according tothe desired shape of the final nanostructure, and a film of nanosourcematerial with desired thickness, width and length is caused to be formedon the template. At least a part of the film of nanosource material iscaused to restructure from a part of the template, thus forming thedesired nanostructure at the predetermined point.

Said restructuring is in the form of a reassembling on the atomic scaleof the nanosource material, resulting in qualitatively new propertiesrelative to the properties of the nanosource material prior to therestructuring, said new properties being manifested in an altered,predefined response to external fields or forces.

The expression “qualitatively new properties” should here be taken tomean such fundamental changes in physical and/or chemical properties as,for example, a material which was transparent previous to therestructuring transitioning into being opaque, a conducting materialbecoming non conducting, a magnetic material becoming nonmagnetic, ormaterials changing optical and conduction responses by an effectiverestriction of the electron dynamics to lower dimensions, etc. Otherexamples of such transitions will be apparent to the man skilled inphysics and/or chemistry. Said template preferably comprises two areaswhich have different properties with respect to their interaction withthe nanosource material. In one embodiment of the present invention,this is done by one of the areas having stronger adhesive propertiesthan the other with respect to the nanosource material.

By means of the method of the invention, virtually any nanostructure canthus be manufactured in-situ on a carrier, with the desired final shapeof the nanostructure being obtained by giving the template the propershape according to the desired shape of the nanostructure. The templatemay thus serve both as an aligning structure for the nanostructure, andas a bonding material for attaching the nanostructure to the carrier.

The invention thus also offers a nanostructure device, comprising acarrier and a nanostructure positioned on said carrier, saidnanostructure extending along a predetermined path on the carrier, withthe device additionally comprising an aligning structure, which alignsthe nanostructure along said predetermined path on the carrier., thedevice also comprising a layer of material positioned on the carrier,said material being a bonding material for attaching the nanostructureto the carrier, which also serves as an aligning structure for thenanostructure.

In addition, the invention makes it possible to manufacture electronicsdevices, for example semiconducting devices, comprising nanotubes.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention will be described in closer detail below, with the aid ofthe appended drawings, in which:

FIGS. 1 a-1 e schematically shows the main steps in a manufacturingprocess according to the invention,

FIG. 2 shows a nanotube manufactured according to the invention, alongthe line II-II in FIG. 1,

FIGS. 3 a and 3 b show other views of FIGS. 1 and 2, respectively, and

FIGS. 4 a-b and 5 a-b show the integration of a nanotube according tothe invention in an electronics device, and

FIG. 6 shows a specific example of a nanosource material, and

FIGS. 7 a-b, 8 and 9 show nanotube semiconductor devices which can bemanufactured with the aid of the invention.

EMBODIMENTS

In FIG. 1, the main steps in a process according to the invention areshown. In order to facilitate the understanding of the invention, anembodiment of the invention in which a specific nanostructure, ananotube, is formed, will be described. However, it should be kept inmind, and will become apparent to one skilled in the art, that a largenumber of different nanostructures can be formed using the presentinvention.

The main steps of the illustrative process will first be describedbriefly, following which a more detailed description of some of thesteps will be given.

The main steps are as follows:

A material is chosen for a substrate 110, which will act as a carrier.There are two points, A and B on the substrate 110, which it is desiredto connect via a nanostructure, in this case a nanotube, which extendsalong a predetermined path, in this case the shortest distance, i.e. astraight line, between said two points. however, it should becomeobvious to one skilled in the art that the invention enables ananostructure to be designed which will follow more or less anypredetermined path on the substrate or carrier.

On the substrate 110, a template 115 is formed, so that the templateconnects the two points A and B, i.e. the template or at least its edgescoincides with the predetermined path. Since the nanostructure that itis desired to shape in this example of an embodiment is a nanotube, thetemplate is given essentially rectangular dimensions, for reasons whichwill become apparent below. However, if it is desired to have ananostructure of a different shape, this can easily be accomplished bymeans of the invention, by shaping the template in a manner according tothe shape of the desired nanostructure.

The template 115 preferably comprises a first 120 and a second 130 area,said two areas being distinct from each other in that the material ofthe areas exhibit different properties in a way which will be describedbelow.

On the template, a film 140 of nanosource material is formed. Thematerials of the two template areas 120, 130 exhibit differentproperties towards the nanosource material in their interaction with thenanosource material.

In this particular embodiment, the different interaction with thenanosource material lies in that the materials of the two template areashave different adhesive properties towards the nanosource material, thematerial of one area having stronger adhesive properties than the other.The significance of the different adhesive properties will becomeapparent in the next step, which in this example is the so calledexfoliation of the film:

At least part of the film 140 is caused to exfoliate, in other words to“lift” at least in part from the template area 115. Due to the differentadhesive properties of the different template areas 120, 130, if theexfoliation is done in a controlled manner according to the invention,only that part of the film 140 which is formed on the template area 130which has the weaker adhesive properties towards the film willexfoliate, whereas that part of the film which is formed on the area 120with the stronger adhesive properties will not exfoliate. Rather, thispart of the film will serve as an “anchor’ for the part of the filmwhich exfoliates, i.e. a fixed point for the future nanostructure, inthis case a nanotube 150, as shown in FIG. 1 e.

It should be pointed out that the exfoliation of the film is aparticular case of a more general aspect of the invention: parts of thefilm are caused to rise from the template, and to form into newstructures. The action by the film when the template is shaped to makethe film into a nanotube is exfoliation. However, a more general termfor this step of the invention is that the film is made to “restructure”from the template, and to then form the desired final shape of thenanostructure.

An important feature of the present invention can be pointed out andemphasized here: the restructuring mentioned is in the form of areassembling on the atomic scale of the nanosource material, resultingin qualitatively new properties relative to the properties of thenanosource material prior to the restructuring. These new properties aremanifested in an altered, predefined response to external fields orforces.

The expression “qualitatively new properties” here refers to suchfundamental changes in physical and/or chemical properties as, forexample, a material which was transparent previous to the restructuringtransitioning into being opaque, a conducting material becomingnonconducting, a magnetic material becoming nonmagnetic, etc. Otherexamples of such transitions will be apparent to the man skilled inphysics and/or chemistry. The new properties of the material will beknown in advance to those utilising the invention, so that the“post-transition” material will exhibit one or more desired physical orchemical properties.

With renewed reference to FIG. 1, part of the film 140 will restructurethus from the template by way of exfoliation, and the layer of material140 will now form the desired nanotube 150, which extends along thepredetermined path, i.e. connects the two points A and B. The nanotube150 is bonded to the substrate or carrier by means of the strongerbonding template area 120. Thus, the template serves both as an aligningstructure for the nanotube, and as a bonding structure for it.

Naturally, a number of conditions should be fulfilled in order for theprocess described above in connection with FIG. 1 to work in an optimalfashion, said conditions being apparent to one skilled in surfacescience. For instance, the entire process needs to take place in acontrolled environment, so that the materials involved are notcontaminated during the process.

In addition, the materials should fulfil the following requirements:

-   -   The substrate material: the material chosen for the substrate        should exhibit a desired mechanical strength, and should, in        addition, in one preferred embodiment be a material on which the        nanosource material can not grow/be deposited. One example of a        suitable substrate material in electronics components which can        be mentioned is silicon.    -   The template material: As mentioned above, two different        template materials are used, with different adhesive properties        with respect to the nanosource material. One possibility is to        use the same basic material for both areas, and to then        introduce defects into one of the areas in order to create        differing adhesive properties. Examples of such defects are        grain boundaries, step edges, dislocations, impurities or line        edges. One possible material for the template is, for example,        silicon carbide, SiC, or Aluminum Oxide. Other examples of        suitable template materials are nickel and/or cobalt.

Another distinct possibility would be to use the substrate as a templatearea also, and to then introduce defects into the areas intended to havetemplate properties, i.e. stronger or weaker bonding properties, thestrength being determined by the material introduced as an impurity, andthe amount of that material. Thus, one area of the substrate can act asthe stronger bonding material, ‘the anchor”, and another area of thesubstrate can be induced with defects which make that area an area withweaker bonding properties, or vice versa.

-   -   The nanosource material: examples of suitable nanosource        materials are magnesium diboride, graphite, silicon or boron        nitride.

FIG. 2 shows, among other things, the nanotube 150 along the line II-IIof FIG. 1, seen in a side view. Thus, FIG. 2 shows a nanostructuredevice 200, comprising a carrier 110 and a nanostructure 150 in theshape of a tube positioned on the carrier, where the nanotube 150connects two points A, B on the carrier. The device 200 additionallycomprises an aligning structure 120, here in the form of the templatematerial 120, but it should be pointed out that other ways of bondingthe nanotube to the carrier can be envisioned within the scope of theinvention.

However, the device shown in FIG. 2 comprises a layer 120 of materialpositioned between the nanotube 150 and the carrier 110, with thematerial 120 being a bonding material for attaching the nanotube to thecarrier. As described above, the material 120 also serves as an aligningstructure for aligning the nanotube 150 between the desired points A andB on the carrier, so that the longitudinal extension of the tubecoincides with the extension of the aligning structure between the twopoints on the carrier.

FIGS. 3 a and 3 b show other views of FIGS. 1 and 2, respectively. InFIG. 3 a, the substrate 110, and the template 115 are shown, as well asthe different areas 120, 130 of the template. On top of the templateareas, the film 140 of nanosource will be deposited. By means of FIG. 3a, it should become apparent that the position, orientation anddeformation (by means of the restructuring, in this case theexfoliation) of the future nanotube can be controlled completely bymeans of the invention, since the orientation and position of thetemplate decides the corresponding parameters of the future nanotube. Itshould also be mentioned that the shape of the nanostructure can becontrolled by means of controlling the shape of the template. This meansthat although only rectangular templates are shown in this description,it is entirely within the scope of the invention to shape ananostructure in more or less any desired structure by creating theproper corresponding template.

FIG. 3 b shows the device of FIG. 3 a, following exfoliation of the filmof nanosource material. Thus, in FIG. 3 b, there is a nanotube-whichconnects two desired points on a substrate, the nanotube being bonded tothe substrate by means of a bonding material which was, in this case,also used as a guiding structure for determining the extension andposition of the nanotube. The material of the nanotube is shown as ahoneycomb pattern, for reasons which will become apparent later in thisdescription.

The points which are connected by the nanotube can, for example, beelectrical contacts, if the nanotube is to be comprised in anelectronics device.

The exfoliation of the film of nanosource material, i.e. the stepbetween FIGS. 3 a and 3 b is preferably carried out by providingadditional energy to the film of nanosource material. This can be donein a large number of ways which should be apparent to the man skilled inthe field, but one such method which can be mentioned is, for example,by means of a laser beam, an ion beam or an electron beam whichilluminates at least part of the film of nanosource material.

Additionally, the exfoliation can be done by means of doping at leastpart of the material of the film of nanosource material, following itsdeposition on the template areas.

Furthermore, the additional energy does not need to be supplied in equalamounts over the area of nanosource material, the additional energy can,for example, be provided to a section of that part of the nanosourcematerial which has been deposited on the area of the template which hasthe weaker adhesive properties.

The nanosource material can be deposited on the template area in a largenumber of different ways, which as such are known. Some such methodswhich can be mentioned as examples are sputtering or evaporation of thematerial.

One of many interesting materials to use as nanosource material is theelement carbon, particularly if the nanostructures, in this exampletubes, are to be used for conducting electrical current, i.e. if thenanotube is to be comprised in an electronics component or device. Insuch an application, it is particularly advantageous if the carbon isdeposited on the template in the form of a graphene sheet. Graphene canbe defined as single atomic layer graphite. Naturally, although theinvention will be described using a film of one graphene sheet, one ormore graphene sheets can be used in the film of the invention.

FIGS. 4 a and 4 b show how a nanotube made according to the invention,using a graphene sheet as nanosource material, can be integrated into anelectronics component or device. Since the nanotube is to be used forconducting current along a predetermined path between two points,contacts for external devices should be incorporated into the nanotubedevice, which will be explained in connection to FIGS. 4 a and 4 b.

In FIG. 4 a, the substrate 110 of the previous figures can be seen, aswell as the different template areas 130 (weak bond) and 120 (strongbond). However, the difference compared to the previous structures is,as will be evident from the figure, that the template area 120 which hasthe stronger bond to the nanosource material now comprises two contactareas 120′, which can cover or constitute parts of the area 120, forexample, as shown in FIG. 4 a, its end areas. Said two contact areas120′ are also suitably arranged so that they will protrude at leastslightly from the future nanotube, i.e. in this case they protrudeoutside the edges of the rest of the template.

In FIG. 4 b, the end result is shown: a sheet of graphene film has beendeposited on the template, and exfoliated from it so as to form a tube,in the manner described above. The result is a nanotube 150, whichconnects two parts on the substrate 110, said two parts in this casebeing contacts for external devices. Since the resulting device 400shown in FIG. 4 b is intended to connect electrical current, thematerial for the contact areas should be electrically conducting, inaddition to the (stronger) bonding properties described earlier. Thecontact areas 120′ can either be formed on a previously formed film ofthe template material 120, or they can be formed directly on thesubstrate, to act directly as the bonding and aligning structure for thenanotube, as well as being contact points.

FIG. 5 basically shows the same as FIG. 4, but in the example shown inFIG. 5, the nanosource material has been doped, i.e. impurities havebeen introduced into the graphene sheet, thus giving the formed nanotubedifferent conducting properties as compared to a nanotube formed of puregraphene.

Turning now to graphene as a nanosource material, this material has atleast one specific property which makes it extremely interesting forelectronics applications: depending on the direction in which the filmexfoliates, the graphene tube will exhibit different conductingproperties. As shown in FIG. 6, there are two main directions in which agraphene sheet can be exfoliated, shown with the arrows 11 and 12, thusgiving the resulting nanotube different so called chirality. Naturally,the film can be exfoliated in almost any direction, using the propertemplate shape, thus making it possible to create a nanotube with moreor less any chosen chirality.

The direction of exfoliation indicated by the arrow I₁ in FIG. 6 willgive the nanotube a chirality known as “zigzag”, and the direction ofexfoliation indicated by the arrow I₂ in FIG. 6 will give the nanotube achirality known as 99 armchair”. In more precise, scientificterminology, the “zigzag” chirality can, in terminology known to thoseskilled in the field, be referred to as (N,O), where N is an arbitraryinteger and the “armchair” chirality can be referred to as (N, N), whereN is also an arbitrary integer.

A nanotube with “armchair” chirality will exhibit conducting propertiessimilar to those of a metallic material, i.e. the nanotube will behighly conductive, whereas a nanotube with “zigzag” chirality willexhibit conducting properties similar to those of a semiconductingmaterial.

In other words, using a nanotube consisting of a plurality of sectionsin its longitudinal direction, with the different sections having beenformed by exfoliation of graphene sheets in different orientations, thusgiving the different sections different chirality, it is possible toobtain components for a 5 semiconductor device, for example a transistoror a diode.

A step in the making of such a semiconductor device is shown in FIG. 7a: A template area 710, consisting of, in this case, three differentareas 720, 730, 740, has been arranged on a suitable substrate 750. Inthe manner described earlier, each of the template areas 720, 730, 740comprise two different “sub-areas” 720′. 720″, 730′, 730″, 740′, 740″,where the “sub-area” denoted by a single apostrophe, ', is an area thathas weaker bonding properties with respect to the nanosource material,in this case graphene, than the “sub area” denoted by doubleapostrophes”.

As shown in FIG. 7 b, the film of nanosource material, in this casegraphene, is deposited on the template areas. In the particular caseshown in FIG. 7 b, the object is to form a semiconductor devicecomprising a nanotube with three different sections in the longitudinaldirection of the tube, with the two, outer sections having theconducting properties of a metal, i.e. highly conducting, and the middlesection having semiconducting properties.

Thus, “sub-areas” 720 and 740 should, upon exfoliation, form a graphenenanotube with “armchair” chirality, and “sub-area” 730 should, uponexfoliation, form a graphene nanotube with “zigzag” chirality. In FIG. 7b, a very efficient way of forming nanotube sections according to theinvention so that the sections will have different chiralities can beseen: it has been discovered by the inventors of the present inventionthat the exfoliation will take place in a direction which is essentiallyperpendicular towards the main extension of the “bonding area” of thetemplate. Thus, a graphene film can be deposited more or less uniformlyon a substrate on which different connecting template areas have beenformed, and the exfoliated nanotube sections can still be given desiredand different chiralities by virtue of the fact that the bonding areasof the individual template areas exhibit different angles with respectto one another. Thus, this method eliminates the need for depositinggraphene sheets with different orientation on the different templateareas, and still the same end result is achieved.

When graphene film has been formed on the template areas, exfoliation isthen carried out as described above. It can be shown that the differentsections bond together as one continuous tube, with “bends” if and wherethe angles of the bonding areas differ from one another.

The different template areas 720, 730, 740, for the various sections ofthe nanotube can be formed on the substrate on the same side of thefuture nanotube, or, as shown in FIG. 7, on alternating (left-right)sides of the future nanotube, or in other patterns. In addition, the“sub-area” with the stronger bonding properties, 720″, 730″, 740″, canbe formed in a straight line on the substrate, or, as shown in FIGS. 7 aand 7 b, with angles between them that are smaller or larger than 180degrees.

It should be noted that the conducting properties of the differentsections of the nanotube can be affected not only by giving thedifferent sections different chirality: another way is to shape thetemplate areas so that different sections of the nanotube will havedifferent radii, thus leading to different cross-sectional areas, whichwill affect the conducting properties of the respective sections.

FIG. 8 shows the making of two separate semiconducting devices on oneand the same substrate, using the method shown in FIG. 7 and describedabove, and FIG. 9 shows the making of a more complex semiconductingdevice than the one in FIG. 7, using the method of FIG. 7.

The invention is not limited to the embodiments which have beendescribed above, but may be varied freely within the scope of theappended claims.

1. A method for manufacturing a nanostructure in-situ at at least onepredetermined point on a supporting carrier, the method comprising:choosing a suitable material for a substrate to be comprised in thecarrier, and creating said substrate, preparing a template on thesubstrate, wherein the template covers said predetermined point, andgiving said template a proper shape according to the desired final shapeof the nanostructure, causing a film of nanosource material with desiredthickness, width and length to be formed on the template, and causing atleast part of the film of nanosource material to restructure from a partof the template, thus forming the desired nanostructure at thepredetermined point, said restructuring being in the form of areassembling on the atomic scale of the nanosource material, resultingin qualitatively new properties relative to the properties of thenanosource material prior to the restructuring, said new propertiesbeing manifested in an altered, predefined response to external fieldsor forces.
 2. The method of claim 1, template includes a first and asecond area, which have different properties with respect to theirinteraction with the nanosource material.
 3. The method of claim 2,wherein the different properties of the two areas with respect to theirinteraction with the nanosource material is that one area is givenstronger adhesive properties than the other.
 4. The method of claim 3,according to which the area of the template that has the strongeradhesive properties with respect to the nanosource material covers theat least one predetermined point on the substrate, thus bonding thenanostructure to the carrier at that point.
 5. The method of claim 1,wherein the restructuring is carried out by providing additional energyto the film of nanosource material.
 6. The method of claim 5, wherein atleast part of the additional energy is provided by at least one of alaser beam, ion beam and electron beam which illuminates at least partof the film of nanosource material.
 7. The method of claim 1, whereinthe restructuring is carried out by doping at least part of the materialof the film of nanosource material.
 8. The method of claim 5, whereinthe additional energy or doping is provided to a section of that part ofthe nanosource material which has been deposited on the area of thetemplate whose material has the weaker adhesive properties.
 9. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the restructuring of the nanosource materialis in the form of exfoliation.
 10. The method of claim 1, wherein thenanostructure which is formed is a nanotube which connects twopredetermined points on the carrier.
 11. The method according to claim1, wherein at least one of the two areas of the template is rectangular.12. The method of claim 1, wherein the film of nanosource material whichis caused to be deposited on the template is a film of graphene.
 13. Amethod for manufacturing an electronics device, said device comprisingat least a carrier and, arranged on the carrier, at least one componentfor conducting electrical current between two predetermined points onthe carrier, said method comprising: choosing a suitable material for asubstrate to be comprised in the carrier, and creating the substrate,arranging on the substrate at least one template area, so that the twopredetermined points on the carrier are in connection with a templatearea, arranging a contact point for external devices to at least one ofthe two predetermined points, causing a film of nanosource material withdesired thickness, width and length to be deposited on at least onetemplate area, and causing at least one of said films of nanosourcematerial to at least partially exfoliate from its template and to form ananotube which connects the two predetermined points on the carrier,wherein said component for conducting electrical current is formed bysaid nanotube.
 14. The method of claim 13, wherein the at least onecontact point coincides with one of said two predetermined points. 15.The method of claim 13, wherein the contact point is prepared before thenanosource material is caused to exfoliate from its template.
 16. Themethod of claim 13, wherein the contact point is prepared after thenanosource material is caused to exfoliate from its template.
 17. Themethod of claim 13, wherein at least one of the templates comprises twoareas which have different properties with respect to their interactionwith the nanosource material.
 18. The method of claim 17, wherein thedifferent properties of the areas with respect to their interaction withthe nanosource material are brought about by letting one area havestronger adhesive properties than the other with respect to thenanosource material.
 19. The method of claim 13, wherein a plurality oftemplate areas are prepared on the substrate, said template areas beingarranged so that a nanotube which is formed by a film of nanotubestructure material formed on and subsequently exfoliated from one ofthese templates will interconnect with another nanotube which in asimilar manner is exfoliated from a neighbouring template, thus formingone single continuous nanotube.
 20. The method of claim 13, wherein atleast one template areas that has the stronger adhesive properties withrespect to the nanosource material connects the two predetermined pointson the substrate.
 21. The method of any of claim 13, wherein theexfoliation is carried out by providing additional energy to the film ofnanosource material.
 22. The method of claim 21, wherein at least partof the additional energy is provided by at least one of a laser beam,ion beam and electron beam, which illuminates at least part of the filmof nanosource material.
 23. The method of claim 13, wherein theexfoliation is done by doping at least part of the material of the filmof nanosource material.
 24. The method of claim 21, wherein theadditional energy is provided to a section of that part of thenanosource material which has been deposited on the area of the templatewhich has the weaker adhesive properties.
 25. The method of claim 13,wherein the films of nanotube source materials which are deposited on atleast one of the templates is a film which will form a nanotube withdifferent electrical properties compared to the electrical properties ofa nanotube which will be formed by a film which is deposited on at leastone of the other templates, thus giving the resulting total nanotubedevice semiconductor properties.
 26. The method of claim 13, wherein thefilm of nanosource material which is caused to be deposited on thetemplates is a film of graphene.
 27. The method of claim 26, wherein thetubes are given different electrical properties by virtue of the tubeshaving different chirality.
 28. The method according to claim 13,wherein at least one of the two areas of the template is rectangular.29. A nanostructure device, comprising: a carrier; a nanostructurepositioned on said carrier, said nanostructure extending along apredetermined path on the carrier; an aligning structure, which alignsthe nanostructure along said predetermined path on the carrier; and alayer of material positioned on the carrier, said material being abonding material for attaching the nanostructure to the carrier, withthe structure of the bonding material also serving as the aligningstructure for the nanostructure.
 30. The device of claim 29, wherein thenanostructure is a nanotube.
 31. The device of claim 29, wherein thesource material for the nanostructure is graphene.
 32. An electronicsdevice, comprising: at least a carrier; at least one component, arrangedon the carrier, for conducting electrical current between twopredetermined points on the carrier, wherein the at least one componentfor conducting electrical current between the two predetermined pointsincludes a nanotube, wherein the nanotube consists of at least twodifferent sections with respect to the longitudinal extension of thenanotube, said two sections having different properties for conductingelectrical current; and an aligning structure for aligning said twosections of the a nanotube between said two points on the carrier. 33.The device according to claim 32, additionally comprising a layer ofmaterial positioned on the carrier, said material being a bondingmaterial for attaching the nanotube to the carrier.
 34. The device ofclaim 33, wherein the bonding material also serves as the aligningstructure of the nanotube.
 35. The device of claim 32, wherein thematerial of the nanotube is graphene.
 36. The method of claim 6, whereinthe additional energy or doping is provided to a section of that part ofthe nanosource material which has been deposited on the area of thetemplate whose material has the weaker adhesive properties.
 37. Themethod of claim 7, wherein the additional energy or doping is providedto a section of that part of the nanosource material which has beendeposited on the area of the template whose material has the weakeradhesive properties.
 38. The method of claim 14, wherein the contactpoint is prepared before the nanosource material is caused to exfoliatefrom its template.
 39. The method of claim 14, wherein the contact pointis prepared after the nanosource material is caused to exfoliate fromits template.
 40. The method of claim 22, wherein the additional energyis provided to a section of that part of the nanosource material whichhas been deposited on the area of the template which has the weakeradhesive properties.
 41. The method of claim 23, wherein the additionalenergy or doping is provided to a section of that part of the nanosourcematerial which has been deposited on the area of the template which hasthe weaker adhesive properties.
 42. The device of claim 30, wherein thesource material for the nanostructure is graphene.
 43. The device ofclaim 33, wherein the material of the nanotube is graphene.
 44. Thedevice of claim 34, wherein the material of the nanotube is graphene.